Centering device with height adjustment



May 5, 1959 R. A. WILLIAMS CENTERING DEVICE WITH HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 2, 1955 May 5, 1959 R. A. WILLIAMS CENTERING DEVICE WITH HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT Filed Aug. 2, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lrlrl pl.-

I INVEN T0 R. iioberfdrZ/zzzrl Vdlmm United States Patent CENTERING DEVICE WITH HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT Robert Arthur Williams, Glenview, 11]., assignor to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application August 2, 1955, Serial No. 525,941

6 Claims. (Cl. 21321) shank supported thereby, and to return the coupler to coupling range when it is uncoupled from another coupler.

Such carriers are pivotally suspended by trunnion links, and it is the principal object of this invention to provide a novel form of link by the manipulation of which the carrier may be suspended from a car striker at varying heights so that a coupler supported thereby may be maintained at its required distance above the top of the rail.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel storm of link having three or more corners, each formed with a trunnion, each adjacent pair of trunnions being spaced apart a distance difierent from that of any other adjacent pair of trunnions.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the following description thereof.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing forming part of this application and wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a striking casting of a railway car showing one modification of the invention incorporated therein.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the trunnion link illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a front elevation of a modified form of trunnion link.

Figure 6 is a side elevation of Figure 5.

The striker is shown generally at 1 and comprises either an integral casting or one built up of welded parts so as to surround the coupler shank, indicated in dotted lines at 2.. The striker 1 is secured to the end draft sills of the car by rivets 3 so that the rectangularly shaped central opening 30 therein will be in proper position for the coupler shank 2 to project therethrough as shown. Such strikers usually comprise two spaced plates 4 and 5 held securely in such spaced relation by any desired means. A pair of supporting ledges 6 and 7 project inwardly toward each other from plates 4 and 5 to support a removable bearing member 8. This member 8 comprises a pair of arms 9 and 10 which are spaced apart and connected across the tops thereof by a connecting wall 11. The arms 9 and 10 are each also formed with a semi-cylindrical bearing portion 12. The arms rest upon the ledges 6 and 7 and are held in position thereon by the rivets 13 extending through the respective walls of the striker and arms. This structure is old as shown in the patent to Gilpin 1,944,422 owned by my assi-gnee.

The adjustable links for swin'gably supporting the carry iron 20 within the striker are either triangularly shaped, as shown in Figure 2, or quadrilaterally shaped, as shown in Figure 5, but it should be understood that ice 2 these links may be scalene multilaterially shaped as desired. The link shown in Figures 1 to 4 is a (forging in the form of a scalene triangular web portion 14 having axially alined trunnions 15 projecting from opposite sides of the web portion, and which are of a size to fit the semi-cylindrical bearing portion 12. The distance between adjacent pairs of trunnions is unequal. For example, referring to Figure 2, the distance x between adjacent pairs of trunnions is shorter than the distance between any other adjacent pair, and if used to suspend the carrier 20 would maintain it at the highest elevation in relation to the striker. However, if the pairs of trunnions which are indicated as being x+ A in distance apart are used to suspend the carrier 20, it would be maintained in a slightly lower position in relation to the striker. Similarly if the pairs of trunnions which are indicated as being x+ /z in distance apart were used to suspend the carrier 20, it would be maintained in the lowest position in relation to the striker. Thus with a new coupler, the trunnions which are indicated as being x+ /z apart would be first used to suspend the carrier and thereby the coupler in the striker. As the bottom surface of the coupler shank wears, due to its sliding movement on the carrier, or the coupler droops for any reason, the link may be rotated so that the trunnions indicated as being x-l-Mi apart support the carrier, which, of course, would raise the carrier in its relation to the striker and compensate for Wear or droop. As the coupler droops further, due to wear or otherwise, the remaining pair of trunnions which are x apart may be used to suspend the carrier, and raise it further in relation to the striker, compensating for such further wear or droop. Consequently the triangular link provides three adjustments for coupler height in relation to the striker.

Figures 5 and 6 illustrate a modified form of link 25, similar to that previously described, excepting that it is scalene quadrilateral in form with a pair of trunnions 26 at each of the four corners, each adjacent pair of trunnions being spaced apart a distance diilerent from that of any other adjacent pair of trunnions, as indicated by the markings x, x-l- A, x-l-Mz and x+-%. It is used exactly the same as the previously described link but affords three more adjustments, since the spacing of the diagonally opposite trunnions may be used and the spacing thereof differs from that of any other two trunnions.

By viewing Figure 4 it will be obvious that the link would be operable if the trunnions projected from one side only of the web of the link, since the web fits rather snugly in between the spaced arms 9 and 10 of the striker and the bifurcated ends of the carry iron 20 and spaced arms 9 and 10. It is obvious too that the link need not be of any specific shape, since the essence of the invention is in the unequal spacing of the pairs of alined trunnions projecting from opposite sides of the link.

Thus there is provided a very convenient and positive means of adjusting the height of a coupler, and obviously a link of any scalene multilateral form may be employed depending only on the number of adjustments in the height of the coupler desired. Or it is readily conceivable that like results could be obtained by having the web portion star shaped or even circular with the trunnions spaced about the periphery of either unequal distances apart.

I claim:

1. A link for supporting a coupler carrier, said link comprising a web portion, three or more trunnions unequally spaced from each other about the periphery of the web and extending normal to the plane of the web, any two of said trunnions being usable to support the coupler carrier at a selected height.

wl 2,885,093 N e 2. A "link or supporting-a coupler carrier, said link I comprising three or morepairs-of axially alined trunnions unequally spaced from each other and extending normal to said link, any two of said trunnions that are not alined being usable to support the coupler carrier at a selected height.

'3. A link -for supporting a =coupler carrier, said link comprising a scalene triangularly shaped web portion having a pair of axially alined trunnions at each corner thereof extending normal to the planeof the web, whereby any two of said trunnions that are not aligned may be used selectively to suspend the coupler carrier at a selected height.

comprising a scalene multilaterally shaped web portion having a pairof trunnions ateach-corner thereof extending normal to the plane ofthe web, whereby any two of said trunnions that are not alined may be used selectively to support the coupler carrier at a selected height.

6. A link for supportinga coupler carrier, said link comprising a web portion, three or more pairs of trunnions unequally spaced from each other about the periphery of the web and extending from opposite sides normal to the plane of the web, each pair of said trunnions being axially alined, any two of said trunniohs that are not alined being usable to support the coupler 7 carrier at a selected height.

4. A link for supporting a coupler carrier, said link comprising a scalene quadrilaterally shaped web portion having a pair of trunnions at each corner thereof extending normal to the plane of the web, whereby any two of said trunnions that are not alined may be used selec- 1 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Graham Dec. 18, 1928 

